Released military observer: ‘We were shot at by Ukrainian army’

OSCE observers Axel Schneider (L) from Germany and John Christensen from Denmark leave a German Air Force aircraft upon their arrival in Berlin's Tegel airport, May 3, 2014 (Reuters / Fabrizio Bensch) / Reuters

Forces loyal to Kiev opened fire on military observers from OSCE nations after anti-government activists in Slavyansk released them. The group was shot at on the road to Donetsk, Czech Lt. Col. Josef Přerovský said in an interview with a local newspaper.

“We exited Slavyansk and headed in the direction of Donetsk.
Having passed the first line of Ukrainian units, consisting of
armored personnel carriers, we moved on to Kramatorsk, arriving
at another Ukrainian military checkpoint, which refused to grant
us passage. They opened fire on us. At that point things really
took a turn for the worse,” Přerovský, who was among the
observers, Itar-Tass reported the Pravo newspaper as saying.

“We somehow managed to reach Kiev by phone, but this changed
nothing. In the end we had to bypass Kramatorsk and travel on
virgin soil, which is very dangerous. What was most upsetting was
getting pulled over by the Ukrainian army, which was supposed to
be assisting us,” Přerovský said.

Přerovský said the police in Donetsk were a big help – the same
people who supported the anti-Kiev elements in Slavyansk. The
Czech official recounted how the path for the bus was cleared
with the help of a police car riding in front.

When asked whether the supposed Russian military incursion was in
fact taking place, Přerovský reported seeing “no Russian
regular military units” in Slavyansk, adding that the group
“was not subjected to physical violence or denied food.”

However, he did say that it was a psychologically strenuous
experience, as fighting was taking place just outside the entire
time.

The 12 military observers were captured by eastern Ukraine’s
self-defense forces on April 25 and spent just over a week in
captivity as they were accused of espionage. Earlier one of the
detained – a Swedish officer suffering from diabetes – was
released.

Later arriving to Donetsk, Col. Igor Turansky, who heads the
Ukrainian military mission to the OSCE also added that the
observers were treated fine and there were no complaints.
Explaining their predicament, he’d said they were captured by the
self-defense forces because of a coordination mix-up. He noted
that the observers “did not coordinate their actions with the
representatives of the locals.”

Vladimir Lukin, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s special
representative to Ukraine, oversaw the release of the observers.
Lukin stressed that the move by the self-defense forces wasn't a
bargain. "It was a voluntary humanitarian act, and we're very
grateful for it to those controlling the city," he said.